complaisance en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From French. See complaisant. By surface analysis, com- + plaisance.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) The quality of being complaisant, amiable or agreeable.
It is no wonder that in an age when this kind of merit is so little in fashion, and so slenderly provided for, persons possessed of it should very eagerly flock to a place where they were sure of being received with great complaisance; indeed, where they might enjoy almost the same advantages of a liberal fortune as if they were entitled to it in their own right.
1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:I see he has premeditated a Denial by the Complaisance of his Features.
1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.i:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| complaisances | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| complaisaunce | alternative | lexicographic |
Translations (7)
pt complacência (quality of being complaisant) · es complaciencia (quality of being complaisant) · eo komplezo (quality of being complaisant) · pl usłużność (quality of being complaisant) · de Verbindlichkeit (quality of being complaisant) · grc ὕφεσις (quality of being complaisant) · de Gefälligkeit (quality of being complaisant)